Increasingly, competitive advantage depends both on a firm's capabilities and its collaborative relationships with other firms, with inter-firm collaboration having a significant effect on practising managers. This article examines the core dimensions of international joint ventures (IJVs) which are identified as: strategic motives for IJV formation, partner selection criteria, management control and IJV performance. The findings are based on personal interviews and self-administered questionnaires. Data was obtained from senior managers in all the elements of the IJV: UK parent, European parent and IJV management. Each data source supports the findings of the other, providing confidence in the reliability of the evidence reported.
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